Mealtime Prayer

Thank you for the world so sweet.

Thank you for the food we eat.

Thank you for the birds that sing.

Thank you, God, for everything.

I've been thinking about the prayers of childhood.  (Little Lady Bug's approaching birth probably has something to do with that.)  Anyway, this was my prayer before we ate.  Each child in our family had a prayer.  It started with my oldest brother, then little big brother, then me, and finally little sis. 

I can still remember my oldest brother's prayer.  "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.  Let these gifts to us be blessed."  Little sis got the traditional "God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank him for our food."  However, I am quite sure that Little Big Brother and I got ripped off in the assignment of childhood prayers.  I can't remember his prayer for the life of me.  And then there was mine...!

I don't know what it was about this prayer, but I had a terrible time remembering it.  More than one prayer dissolved into laughter long before the end of those four lines.  Sometimes they prompted me; sometimes there were long silences.  Then there were either giggles or tears, depending on my mood and/or how cranky the parental units might be.  *sigh*

And it is such a sweet little prayer.  (Though even when I was typing it, I had to think long and hard.) Strange how some of the things from childhood never really leave you.